Return of a Hero
by dwfan4
Summary: After one year, Danny shows up on Jazz's porch, in the middle of the night, and tells her he wants to start over. She helps him set up a new life in Jump City, where he opens a bookstore. Hiding from his past, and worried for the young woman helping run the shop, Danny is stressed out like he hasn't been for five years. *Description is not the best.* *Major character death*
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Lounging across a soft blue chair, Jasmine was reading a psychology book. She had a final in her psych class in a week and wanted to reread the chapters in her book. It was late, late enough that the other girls Jazz shared a campus house with had all gone to bed and she was the only one on the downstairs floor. Jazz sighed and closed her book, before standing. She reached over and turned the lamp off, leaving her book on the table before heading towards the stairs. As she put her hand on the banister, lightning flashed outside, and she jumped back.

As the light faded, she heard a small knock on the back door she wasn't sure she would have heard if the lightning hadn't made her stop and pause. Jazz walked toward the back door, turning the light on as she passed through the kitchen. She looked out the window, but didn't see anyone at the door. Frowning, she was about to turn the light off and leave, when she heard another soft knock. She turned on the outside light and opened the door enough to stick her head out. She didn't see anything at first, but she stared as someone appeared out of nowhere in front of her.

"Jeez, Jazz. You know better than to answer a random knock in the middle of the night." Jazz put a hand to her mouth and threw the door open.

"Danny!" Standing in front of her was her brother, a bit taller than he was the last time she saw him, and threw her arms around his shoulders. "It's starting to pour out, get in here and we can catch up." As he moved into the light she saw he had grown his hair out a bit, and looked like he hadn't had a good shower in about a month. "You look awful, where have you been?"

"Um, around, here and there, excuses, valid excuses." He scratched the back of his head in the way he always did in high school, and looked away, avoiding eye contact.

"Daniel Fenton, you've been gone for a year. If you won't tell me where you were, at least tell me what you were doing." Jazz put her hands on her hips, and gave him her patented Jasmine parent face. Danny looks down with a sad smile on his face and breathes in, before slowly breathing out.

"Honestly Jazz, I was trying to forget." Danny rubbed the back of his head as he avoided looking at his sister. "I tried to end everything. My problems, my memories, and my feelings. I almost went through with it except, I remembered Sam." His breath hitched and he tried to regain his composure. When he felt he had a handle on his emotions, he continued.

"I remembered that she wouldn't have wanted me to continue, even if I didn't ghost hunt anymore. Plus, I remembered that I would most likely have come back as a full ghost anyway, then I would be stuck for all eternity with that hanging over my head." Danny looked out the window at the storm, and sat in silent thought as he waited for Jazz's response.

Jazz studied her brother while he talked, and she was reminded of the many times in high school when she would try to understand his emotions. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. She kept it shorter now a days, almost as a reminder of their mother, but that worry on her mind tonight. "I'm glad you came back little brother," she said, suppressing a yawn, "And I am very happy that you didn't, you know, leave for the ghost zone." Danny put a hand on her shoulder and after a moment, pulled her into a hug. "Just promise me, you'll be here in the morning."

Danny nodded and motioned for the stairs. "You get to bed, I'll make myself comfortable on the couch." Jazz sleepily nodded and started heading up the stairs.

She was almost at the top when she turned and pointed at him. "Promise me that you will be, I need to hear it."

"I promise." Danny said as he turned toward the living room.

Jazz watched him get settled on the couch before she was satisfied. As she turned to head up the stairs, she smiled and said to herself. "I'm glad you're back little brother. I missed you."


	2. Chapter 2

"Jazz!"

Jazz ran downstairs in the morning, to find her roommate, coffee mug wielded over her head. She turned the corner into the kitchen to find Danny on the receiving end of her threatening, but somewhat pathetic attempt to ward him off.

"Daisy, what are you doing?" Jazz asked, putting herself between her brother and Daisy. She gently took the mug, and set it back on the counter. Daisy pulled Jazz over next to her and pointed at him.

"Back up, don't make me hurt you." Jazz was exasperated by this point and put a hand on her shoulder.

"This is my brother, Danny." She walked over and put a hand on his shoulder, while Danny put his arm down from where he had been defending himself. Daisy stares, and then shrugs.

"When did he get here?" She leaned against the counter and picked her coffee mug again. She went over to fill up her mug, and turned back to Jazz. She held her hand out to Danny and waited for him to shake her hand.

He looked at her with a concerned look, then took her hand and shook it. Jazz smiled, then ushered Danny out of the kitchen and up to her room. She opened her laptop and looked at him.

"Are you going to stay in town with me? Or are you going to leave again?" He sat on the edge of her bed, and looked away from her, staring at the pictures on the wall. His eyes drifting over the pictures, until he caught sight of one that caught his attention. He stood up and walked over to one that had been taken five years before. Jazz stood up and walked over, holding herself, with a slight smile and a sad look in her eyes.

"Remember that day? You had finally asked Sam to the dance. Mom and Dad were so proud. Dad tried to get you to wear a jumpsuit. Mom talked him out of it of course." She turned away and wiped the tear from her eye. Danny continued to stare at the picture.

He raised a hand and touched the edge of the frame. In it, he was standing next to Sam, both dressed to go to the dance, and behind them stood his parents. He touched Sam's face, and felt a tear fall down his face. He lowered his hand and walked over to his sister who had sat back at her computer.

"I'm leaving again, but I wanted you to help me find a place." He sat on the edge of the bed and waited for her response. She nodded and turned to the computer, opening the internet.

"Where do you want to go? And how will you pay for it?" She pulled up the search engine and waited.

"I'm thinking California. Somewhere I don't have to worry about people knowing me." He pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket, and held it out to her. Jazz took it and looked it over, before looking at him. She typed the address into the search bar and looked at the building.

"A bookstore? In Jump City? What makes you choose this?" Jazz looked at the price and nodded. "It's not a bad price, might be possible with a loan."

Danny nodded, and stood back up and went over to the picture. "I think Sam would have liked it, she talked about owning a bookstore in the future. And I think mom would have supported it." He chuckled and looked at her. "Dad would have been a bit sad that I'm not going into ghost hunting."

Jazz laughed and nodded. "Yeah, you're right about that. I can see his face, just pouting about it. Until mom would give him a cookie." Danny was actually smiling and laughing a bit at this point. "I'm going to go as soon as I can get a ticket." Jazz nodded, looking at him sadly, but smiling at the memory they just shared.

"I'll check flights. Just stay out of trouble, and stay close by." Jazz started to look online at flight prices. Danny nodded, and walked to the window. He opened it and turned into Phantom before turning invisible. Jazz turned and shook her head at the empty room, before jumping up and running to the window.

"You never told me how you were paying for this!" She yelled as she leaned out the window. She swore she heard a chuckle, and shook her head. She leaned against the wall and sighed. "Jump City little brother, how strange."

*Author's note*

Wow, I didn't expect this to get so many views so fast. Thank you to everyone who has viewed my story so far.

Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom or Teen Titans.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's note: Thank you for all the support. Just a couple of things I should say to help organize the timeline, and about the schedule for this story.

For the timeline, Ultimate Enemy and Phantom Planet have not happened, and the first couple of chapters take place before the Teen Titans are formed. Jack, Maddie, and Sam were involved in an accident and proclaimed dead. Danny is 23, he has been out of hero work for 5 years.

For the schedule for this story, I plan to update as much as possible, I'm constantly writing lately. I plan to get a chapter out every other day or so. Thank you for listening to me talk.

* * *

Danny looked out the window of the plane, as it took off from the airport. Jazz had taken him to the airport and said goodbye an hour earlier. She waited to watch him leave, and then went back to the house to get some more sleep before her finals. He sighed and leaned his head back to get some sleep, since he had to wake up at 4:30am to catch the earliest flight to Jump City.

"Sir?" The stewardess was waiting by him. Danny looked around and saw he was the last person on the plane, and sleepily nodded and stood up. The stewardess stood back and pointing him toward the front of the plane. Danny grabbed ahold of his backpack, which only had a change of clothes, before getting out of his seat. As he walked through the terminal, he scanned the room, avoiding people who almost bumped into him, to try and find the signs leading out. Danny noticed a snack counter and walked over to grab something to eat. As he stood in line, he observed the other passengers disembarking and shuffling about, waiting for flights, or heading out of the airport.

As Danny was turning around to pay for his item, he noticed a girl trying to stay along the edges of the room. Danny watched her, noticing her avoiding eye contact with anyone and trying to stay out of people's way. Danny was struck with how similar she looked to Sam, for a moment, he wasn't sure if he was seeing Sam or some stranger. He stood in a daze until she paused and looked directly at him. He gave a small smile and waved, she ducked her head and walked faster towards the exit. He put the cash for his granola bar on the counter and looked around for her. He couldn't see her so he shrugged it off.

Danny walked toward the exit of the terminal, tearing open the packaging on his granola bar. As he ate his snack, he looked at a map of Jump City that was on the wall. He found the location of the bookstore and calculated the distances in his head. Danny decided to walk to the bookstore instead of getting a cab. Heading down the sidewalk, he tilted his head up, enjoying the sun on his face.

After about half an hour of walking, Danny turned the corner to see the bookstore with a for sale sign in the window. Opening the door, Danny walked in to the store and looked around. Dust tickled his nose as he ran a hand through his hair. Walking farther into the store, he examined the shelfs, and made notes of everything he saw that needed to be fixed and things that were good just the way they were. As he was looking at the selection of books, he heard a cough from among the shelves.

Venturing further, he found the girl from the airport sitting on a box, leafing through a book. Danny stood at the end of the aisle, and cleared his throat causing her to jump and drop the book. Danny put his hands up, backing away while the girl scooped the book up and moved away from him.

"Hey it's okay. I'm sorry I scared you." Danny spoke with a soft, even tone, and an apologetic smile on his face. She narrowed her eyes and stayed in a defensive position. Danny sighed and ran a hand through his hair until he ended up rubbing the back of his neck.

"Did you follow me?" She gently put the book back on the shelf, and spoke with a quiet and gruff voice. She didn't seem to be afraid, causing Danny to raise his eyebrow a little. He shook his head, and looked around.

"I plan on buying this place, you just happened to be here. My name is Danny." She raised an eyebrow, and crossed her arms. "Danny Manson." He held his hand out to her, and she slowly raised her arm, keeping a closed expression.

"Rachel." She pulled back quickly. Danny stepped back and looked around.

"Do you like this place?" Danny asked her, and she shook her head.

"Never been here before, but I hate to see a bookstore get closed. I'm glad that this one won't be." She kept a straight expression the entire time, not once showing a smile, or expression of any kind. Danny got an idea and looked at her.

"How about after I buy this place, I hire you to help me run it." Rachel looked at him with a confused look and thought about it.

"Most people don't hire people they just met." She took a deep breath and smoothed the look on her face. Rachel put a hand to her head and shook her head. "This is stupid, I don't need a job."

Danny smiled at how much she was like Sam, he couldn't help thinking about it. "Everyone could use a bit of money to help them pay for things, like food or a living space. If you decide you don't like working here, you can leave and I won't stop you." He pulled his phone out, and called the number he had seen on the sign outside. "If you want, I can have you start as soon as I finish buying the place."

Rachel thought about it, and nodded. She did need the money, with being new to the city. "Okay, but don't expect me to be a ray of sunshine."

Danny chuckled and turned away, the phone ringing. "Of course, I don't expect you to always be a ray of sunshine." He held the phone with his shoulder, and dug a pen out of his pocket. Finding a scrap of paper; an old receipt he picked up off the floor. Writing down his cell number, he handed it to her and pointed to his phone. "Call, or text me, when you decide what you want to do."

He walked away, finally getting an answer on the other end of the line. What he didn't see was Rachel disappear in a pool of inky black magic. Danny walked back out the front of the store, talking to the current owner of the store about when he could meet up and make an offer on the store. Walking down the street, he decided he wanted lunch. Remembering that there was a pizza place around the corner, he figured it might be good to scout out local restaurants and headed that way for lunch.


	4. Chapter 4

**A.N. I apologize for the wait on an update so soon after saying I wanted to update every couple of days. I've had some family issues lately, and haven't had much time to write. I'd like to thank my editors who are amazing at helping me grow in my writing skills.**

Danny hung up the phone as he put the key in the lock of his new apartment. Slipping the phone in his pocket as he opened the door; looking around, he smiled. The interior was a nice blend of white and black; the counters in the kitchen were white marble. Danny walked over to the window that stretched from floor to ceiling. He looked out at the view that overlooked the harbor. There was an island out in the harbor, and Danny smiled. Maybe he would go explore it, and see if there was anything interesting on it. It looked like a normal island with trees and bushes. Turning away, he walked into the kitchen only to remember that he hadn't gone food shopping yet. Groaning and throwing his back he grabbed his keys and walked back outside. Heading towards the elevator, he nodded at an old lady down the hall, she nodded back at him as she walked inside her own apartment. He stepped into the elevator and hit the lobby button.

As he walked out of the lobby, the sun was starting to hit the horizon. Danny remembered there being a grocery store on the same street as the bookstore. As he turned the corner, Danny looked at his phone, hoping he had gotten a message from Rachel accepting his offer yet. He hadn't heard anything, or seen her in the past couple of days. He looked up to find himself in front of the bookstore. He smiled at the sold sign in the window and continued walking. Danny saw the grocery store lights up ahead.

As Danny walked into the grocery store and grabbed a cart, his phone buzzed indicating that he had a text. Looking down at it, he smiled a little.

"Hello? Is your offer still open? -Rachel" Danny stops in the cereal aisle, and grabbed a box of Fruit Loops. He chuckled to himself after seeing the cereal. He puts it in the cart he had grabbed.

"Hello! Yes, my offer is still open. If you want, show up tomorrow at 9 am, and help me start with cleaning. -Danny" He walked down several aisles, getting the essential food items; like fruits and vegetables, sandwich making items, and ramen noodles. He walked around the store for about an hour before checking out and heading home to make dinner.

The following morning, he left his apartment and walked towards the bookstore around the corner. He smiled to himself, seeing Rachel already standing outside the bookstore.

"Good morning!" He waved at her, and got the key out to open the door. She gave a small smile and wave back at him. Walking into the store, he motioned for her to follow. "How have you been?"

"I've been good." She responded quietly. She followed him inside hesitantly. She was still unsure about this hyperactive guy who she met only a couple of days ago. He seemed nice, but she was feeling some very strange emotions from him in her slight pokes at his aura.

"I need to make a checklist of things to be done." Danny said looking around, then pulled a handheld notebook out of his jacket pocket. He set down his mug of coffee on the counter before turning to her. "If you wouldn't mind, I would like it if you went through the shelves and start putting the books in boxes while I go check the stock room."

"Where are the boxes?" Rachel asked looking around for them. Danny smacked his forehead and chuckled.

"Right, I was supposed to pick those up before I came in. I'll run and get those, would you go through the stock room and see if there are any boxes you could start with?" He put the notebook on the counter before rubbing the back of his neck. Rachel nodded and headed towards the back as Danny walked out the front door.

The rest of the day was spent putting books in boxes and labelling the boxes with keep, sell, and a very small pile of toss. They both hated putting books in the toss pile, but some were in such bad shape that they would have to order new ones soon anyway. It was late when they left that night, both agreeing to be back early in the morning.

Danny got there first in the morning, and opened the door to get started for the day. He worked for a little while, finishing off the small pile left over from the night before. He was just putting the last box on the keep pile when Rachel walked in.

"Good morning. Sleep okay?" Danny asked her, wiping the dust from his hands. She nodded and set a small box on the table. "What's that?" Danny walked over curious.

"I figured it could be a thank you for giving me a job, and for listening to my advice about the books." Rachel gave him small smile and shrugged. Danny smiled wide and looked in the box as she opened it. "I was picking up my tea this morning and decided to get donuts."

Danny took a donut with chocolate frosting and sprinkles. He was careful to eat it away from books and made sure he had clean hands before getting ready to work. "I got a message this morning saying the new shelves were ready for pick up, so I'll see if they will deliver them for us. Then we should see about getting these shelves down so we can put them up tomorrow."

Rachel nodded and headed over towards some shelves. "I can start with these while you do that." Danny agreed and headed towards the small office in the stock room to make the call.

The rest of the week went fast, as they took out the old shelves, and installed the new ones. By Saturday they were almost done. Only a few of the replacement books had yet to arrive, but Danny was eager to open the store.

"Hey Rachel!" He waved to get her attention from where she was putting books back on the shelves. She looked up from the history section as she put the last book on the shelf. "What do you say to dinner tomorrow night to celebrate the opening?"

She tilted her head a bit in thought before nodding. She walked over to where he was behind the counter.

"Then it will be my treat." Danny offered, and looked around. "Meet here tomorrow night? I'll just be doing a bit of touch up tomorrow, so you don't have to come by until we meet for dinner." She nodded and looked around.

"It looks nice. I'm glad you decided to clean it up and make it a nice place." Danny agreed, and put his hand to the back of his head.

"I think we're done for today, don't you?" He grabbed his mug and the keys before motioning for Rachel to join him in his walk to the door. Rachel nodded and held the door open for him.

"I'll see you tomorrow, about 6:30 pm?" It had been a fun week, but she was looking forward to a day to relax and read a book she had borrowed from the store. Danny nodded and waved as he walked towards his apartment.

"Goodnight Rachel."


	5. Chapter 5

On Sunday Night, Danny and Rachel went out to dinner to celebrate the opening of the bookstore tomorrow. The pizza place was crowded but they found a quiet booth in the back of the restaurant. After getting their order and talking a bit Danny raised his glass.

"To tomorrow going well, and the grand opening of the Lost Love bookstore." They clinked their glasses together and drank to the toast. Danny chuckled and set his glass down. "This is the best I've felt in ages." He pointed at Rachel. "And it's mostly thanks to you. I could never have gotten the store ready this soon by myself. I don't know how you got the shelves in so fast while I was out, but thank you."

Rachel shook her head. "It's nothing, they were easy to put together." She got the smallest of smiles on her face. They ate pizza and talked for a while before getting up to leave. As they headed out the door, the sky lit up and something crashed into the street. Danny jumped back, got into a defensive pose, and looked around for Rachel who he couldn't see. He dodged the people running past him and looked toward the smoking pile of rubble that was the street. A figure rose out of the hole in the ground and screamed in rage while raising her hands in the air. Danny noticed she had restraints on her hands.

"Slopforn ivortmat! Slopforn! Ond gudshik zerrole!" The figure yelled, her arms waving around when a guy tried to take her picture. Danny saw a wall of people heading toward him and went intangible so he wouldn't get knocked down, making it look like he was dodging them for anyone paying attention to him. Once the crowd was mostly gone, he jumped behind one of the overturned cars and watched everything that was happening in the street. The girl was swinging her arms around and smashing everything in sight while yelling in a language he couldn't understand. Thinking about Rachel, he hoped she hadn't been hurt by the crowd, and that she had gotten away safely.

Danny watched her stop hitting cars as she looked around and suddenly she was speeding past the car he had hidden behind towards the pizza place and smash against the pillar supporting the balcony.

"Zop! Yark! Mesnef!" With every swing, she yelled the same strange words repeatedly. He watched as it shook and the people on the balcony held on, hoping it wouldn't fall. Danny tensed and prepared himself for a fight he didn't want to participate in. He wasn't ready to get back into hero work, but if it saved his new town.

"Who are you?" Danny paused to look for the voice before peeking out of his hiding spot to see a guy standing on top of the car next to his. He was dressed in a red, green, and yellow outfit with a cape. The girl jumped at him instead of answering and he dodged, right towards Danny's hiding place. The car next to him crumples like tissue paper and the caped guy threw some disks at her. The disks explode in her face though she kept swinging at the caped teen as Danny ran towards the nearest alleyway to get out of the way.

Across the street in another alleyway, Rachel watched everything from under the hood of the cloak she was now wearing. Silently she was apologizing to Danny for leaving him, but she hoped he had gotten out the area all right. She watched the girl pick up a car with her foot and kick it at spiky hair. The guy pulled a bo staff out and swung at her. She went flying across the street impacting the car Danny had previously been hiding behind. As the cloud of dust from the impact started to settle, the warrior girl smiled at him maliciously.

"Zota."

She jumped at him with the intent of crushing his skull, but before she could connect a green big horned sheep rammed into her from the side. The sheep transformed into a small looking boy with green skin. The boy turned to spiky hair and saluted him.

"Ex-Doom Patrol Member Beast Boy, sir! How can I help?" The green teen looked the other boy over and his eyes grow wide with realization. "Wowzers! You're Robin, aren't you, sir?" Robin looked at Beast Boy and then looked down the street as Beast Boy kept talking.

"Beast Boy, was it?" Beast Boy nodded as Robin pointed down the street. He turned and saw the girl from earlier recovered from the attack and holding a bus over her head. They ran in opposite directions as the bus was thrown at them. Beast Boy turned back towards where the bus ended its flight to see a figure had halted the bus in its tracks. When the cloud settled, the figure hurled the bus off to the side, his one red eye gleaming.

"Yo! Who's here messing up my neighborhood?" The larger figure asked before Beast Boy pointed at the warrior girl.

"She started it." As Beast Boy talked she hit the ground one more time, causing the ground to shake, nearly knocking the three guys off their feet. When they looked at her, they noticed that the restraints on her hands had finally fallen off. As they watched, her hands lit up and she sent barrage after barrage of green energy bolts at them, causing them to run for cover. She blasted everything within a half mile trying to get at them. As she stopped firing and the smoke cleared, she fell to her knees.

Danny had been watching from the shadows in the alleyway and as she fell to her knees, he nodded. They seemed to have handled the situation, so he turned his back on the fight and faded into the night towards his apartment, he had a big day tomorrow.

When the warrior girl stops her attack, the three guys start running towards her. Before they get halfway, a wall of black energy springs up in front of them, stopping them in their tracks. A giant bird made of the same energy appeared behind them as a form appeared next to the boys.

"Maybe fighting is not the answer." They turn towards the figure in the cloak and she drops the wall of energy for them to see the kneeling form of the girl hands still smoking from her attack. Robin heading towards her and she hauled herself to her feet aiming her hands at him. He put his hands up in a form of surrender.

"Gokta!"

"Easy. My name is Robin, and I don't want to hurt you. I just want to help." He reaches for his belt and pulls out a small tool.

"Gokta! Gokta buhovna!" Robin doesn't blink as he holds up a lock pick.

"Easy, I'm going to help you." She stared at the object in his hand before lowering her hands as she seemed to calm down. He set to work using the lock pick on the cuffs on her hands. "There you go." He says as the cuffs fall to the ground. She rubs her wrists and looks at him.

Before Robin could even move, she grabbed him and pulled him to her. She kissed him, and he was so shocked that he dropped the lock pick. When she pulled back, she shoved him hard enough he fell to the ground.

"If you do not wish to be destroyed, you will leave me alone." She demanded, her eyes glowing green as she looked him in the eye before quickly flying off.


	6. Author's note

Hey guys, I'm sorry that it's been a year since I've even touched this story. I know that you guys are probably wanting the chapter, and now that I have some free time, if barely any, and I have some motivation to right again. My life got insane after I told you I would write more. I got engaged, and a second full time job on top of the one I had when I started this story, plus being constantly some kind of sick. My life got overly complicated, and I'm sorry that my writing got shoved to the back. I'm back working on this story, it will take a small amount of time to get more of the story written, but I plan on getting it going again. Again, sorry guys, and I'll be happy if you decide to stick with me after all this time.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Danny locked the door of his apartment and turned to head to the elevator so he could head to the bookstore. He looked at his phone as he waited for it to get to ground level. As Danny walked out of the building and down the street, he stopped to get a coffee and a newspaper from the corner store. He was walking up to the store as he sipped his coffee, pulling the key out of his pocket and unlocking the door before walking in. As he came inside he set his paper down on the counter.

He prepared the store for opening by starting a pot of coffee and opening the pastry case, before sitting down at the counter to drink his coffee. While he was waited he pulled the paper over to himself, an image on the front page catching his attention. It was an image of five teens that he recognized. Four of the five were talking to each other and were the main focus of the photo; but off to the side stood a fifth teen in a dark indigo cloak, trying to hide from the camera. Danny recognized the purple hair anywhere and sighed to himself.

"Rachel, what happened last night?" He said to himself. The bell on the door dinged and he looked up to see the aforementioned girl standing there. She was fidgeting nervously, seemingly unsure of what to say. Danny shook his head and put on his biggest smile. "There you are. If you're gonna be late, let me know."

Rachel jumped slightly "You don't want to talk about anything?" she said back quietly as she stared up at him from under her hood.

"What's there to talk about? You're here, unharmed. Although you gave me quite the scare last night, vanishing on me like that." He had a slight smirk on his face, watching her head dip before she looked at him.

"I'm ready to start the day if you are." She gave him a tiny smile before moving to sit behind the counter, glad he had chosen to carry on as if nothing life-changing had taken place.

Opening day had gone rather well, They had a steady stream of people that came throughout the day. Some had been regulars at the old store and were glad that it had gotten revitalized. Others were newcomers and had promised to revisit in the future. Danny had spent the day chatting with customers and keeping refreshments stocked. Rachel had spent most of the day behind the counter, pointing people to specific sections and manning the cash register. As they were closing for the day, Danny handed Rachel a brownie wrapped in plastic.

"Here, grabbed this when I had to run home to get more tape. It's a recipe from my mom, my dad's favorite. I'm thinking of trying it in the case, what do you think?"

Rachel unwrapped it before taking a small bite. She chewed and swallowed before she nodded her head."It's delicious. Did your mom make it?" She felt a wave of sadness overwhelm him before he shook his head.

"It's just her recipe." He turned and started fiddling with some paperwork. Rachel looked at the brownie in her hand and wrapped it back up before putting it in her pocket.

"I still think it's going to be a big hit." When he didn't turn around, she sighed and put a hand on his shoulder.

"I'll see you tomorrow. I'll do my best to be on time." Walking toward the door and opening it, she paused. "I'm sorry. If you want to tell me, I'll listen." She waited for him to acknowledge what she said, then she left.

Danny's shoulders slouched when he heard the door shut. He pulled out the newspaper and looked at the front page again.

"How can I stop feeling the pain? And how can I help you so you don't end up like me?" He muttered to himself. He looked up as a thought hit him. "Maybe Jazz was onto something." Danny set down the paper and locked up the shop on his way out.

A couple of days went by, Danny and Rachel running the shop, and trying different pastries out. The fudge went over well enough that Danny had to find a local chef to help bake and stock the goods in the cabinet. Rachel woke up one morning at the mostly built tower that the Titans had decided to build on the island in the harbor, and headed to the kitchen to make her morning tea. As she was enjoying the tea, Robin came over with a box in his hands.

"This came in the mail for you. It's kinda heavy. Do you know what it is?" Rachel shook her head.

"Have you opened it?" Robin shook his head.

"I ran some scans, but it seems harmless. If you don't mind, I'd like to see what it is so I know it's not dangerous." Rachel sighed and nodded, setting down her tea. Opening the box with her powers to make sure it wasn't some kind of trap, they peered in the box together. Rachel noticed a letter with her name on it amongst a couple of books and some fudge, along with other pasties and tea boxes. She pulled the letter out and immediately recognized the hand writing. Robin scratched his head and looked at her.

"What is this? A care package?"

"I'm not sure, but I'm going to find out." She took the letter over to the window and levitated with her cup of tea as she started to read the letter. Robin took that as a sign to leave her be.

 _"Hey, Rachel, I know I see you all the time at work, but I wanted to let you know that I support your work outside the shop. Heroes are Important. I sent this box to you to let you know, you are not alone. And before you ask, this isn't a care package. It's a therapy box. It holds a bunch of items to help you relax after stressful times. I want you to know, you still have a spot at the shop, just don't stress if you can't make it sometimes. Just let me know. I'm here if you need anything. Your friend, Danny."_ Rachel had a small smile on her face as she went over to the box and took it to her room before a certain green changeling found the pastries.


End file.
